Erdogan urges Turks to talk
ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkey’s political parties to work quickly to form a new government yesterday, saying egos should be left aside and that history would judge anyone who stood in the way.
In his first public appearance since Sunday’s parliamentary election deprived the ruling AK Party of a majority, Erdogan said his own role as Turkey’s first elected president was critical and that he would play his part with the powers given to him by the constitution.
Opponents have accused Erdogan of exceeding his authority in meddling in government and campaigning for the AK Party he formally left when he assumed the presidency last year – with the aim of imbuing it with sweeping new powers.
“Everyone should put aside their egos and form a government as soon as possible,” Erdogan said in a speech to students at the Ankara chamber of commerce.
“This is our biggest responsibility towards our 78 million people. No politician has the right to say ‘I’, we have to say ‘We’,” he said.
The lira, which has been hit hard by political uncertainty since the start of the year, firmed on what markets took as a more conciliatory tone after weeks of combative campaign rhetoric in the run-up to the election.
Any instability will be watched with concern by Nato allies that value Turkey as a buffer against an increasingly unstable Middle East. Islamic State militants stand at its borders and there are fears violence in the mainly Kurdish south-east could reignite if peace talks are hindered by coalition wrangling.
Sunday’s vote ended more than a decade of single-party rule in the EU candidate nation, dealing a blow to Erdogan’s ambitions for a more powerful executive role. Some critics view it as a turning point for the president and for Turkey.
Erdogan, who founded the AKP in 2001 and has dominated politics ever since, had hoped the party would win a strong enough majority to change the constitution and introduce a US-style presidential system.
It was a plan viewed with suspicion by opponents, who accuse him of amassing too much personal power and becoming increasingly intolerant of criticism.
“As the first elected president my responsibility is critical, I am aware of this,” Erdogan said.
“Those who leave Turkey without a government will not be able to account for themselves before history and the people.”
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the AKP, with its roots in Islamist politics, could be flexible.
“We’ve used the coalition eras of the 1970s and 90s as an example to show that coalitions are not suitable for Turkey and we still stand by that stance,” Davutoglu said.
“However, with the current political picture… we’re open to any scenarios.”
Fractious coalitions in the 90s undermined the economy and scuppered a series of International Monetary Fund economic aid programmes. Those traditional secular parties, riven by competing egos, largely collapsed before an AKP avalanche in 2002.